72659 - Vegetable Crops

Learning outcomes

The course will provide knowledge on physiology, cultural methods and on improvement of yield and quality of vegetables grown in open field and greenhouse; with an extensive overview of sustainable cropping systems; using tomato as model crop.

Course contents

Lessons:

Introduction: Population trends and food security. Current status of agricultural production. Introduction to sustainable agriculture. Evolution of current agricultural production and sustainable approaches to crop production. Differences between North and South of the world.

Vegetable crop production in the urban environment. Experiences in Latin America, Africa, South Easth-Asia. Urban Agriculture in Europe. Simplified soilless systems. Multidisciplinary research experience in urban agriculture.

Definition of agroecology. Low input agriculture. Biodynamic and Natural farming. Organic farming. Distribution at world level and case studies from USA, Europe and Italy.

Water and irrigation in open field and greenhouse vegetable crops. Soil moisture sensors. Tools for physiological determination of plant water status. High efficient irrigation systems. Water use efficiency in vegetable crops.

Nutrient management in vegetable crops. Traditional nutrient management in the Mediterranean. N balance sheet method. Dynamic N management guided by optical sensors. K, P, Mg, S, Ca, and microelement nutrition.

Environmental assessment: Life Cycle Assessment in vegetable crops and urban horticulture.

Workshops:

1) Literature review: Searching, analyising, elaborating datasets and research outputs in plant sciences.

2) Use of MatLab and Arduino for managing environmental sensors and plant fertigation systems.

3) Indoor plant cultivation systems. Artificial lighting and LED technology for vegetable crops. Vertical hydroponics and different solutions for green walls. Air filtering and noise reduction capability of greened infrastructures.

Practical experience

1) Working groups. Designing and presenting a research on vegetable crops.

2) Measuring plant physiological response to environmental stresses. At the experimental greenhouse facilities of DIPSA, measurements with leaf porometer and pressure chamber on salt stressed vegetable crops.

3) Technical visits to commercial greenhouse and exhibitions.

Readings/Bibliography

Quaryoti M., Baudoin W., Nono Womdin R., Leonardi C., Hanafi A., De Pascale S. 2013. Guidelines on GAP for greenhouse horticulture in the Mediterranean Region. FAO-UN, Rome, Italy. FAO paper, AGP series, 217.

Assessment methods

90% Oral examination structured in three questions. First question on a subject chosen by the candidate.

10% Group work.

 

Exams take place weekly upon appointment with the professor.

Teaching tools

Powerpoint presentations, research paper, exercises.

Office hours

See the website of Francesco Orsini